Now I've got a preschool/IEP dilemma

Re: Now I've got a preschool/IEP dilemma

• MirandaHobbes member

  August 2013

  KelleyBean said:

  DS was evaluated through Child Find and offered 5 days of county preschool with pull outs for speech twice a week. We will be supplementing with private therapy as well. I have two issues: the first is the fact that preschool goes from 7:45am - 11:45am. They will bus him to his daycare but only within our school zone. His current center (which we love) is not in our zone so they will not provide transportation.

   

  This was our problem too- our school district was/is uber vigilent about busing boundaries. They would bus anywhere- home daycare, home, center. When I asked, they just told me to find a new center, period. I work full-time and intially considered leaving over my work break to go pick him up each day and transport him myself- but I just couldn't do it with my unpredictable schedule. It's a tough spot to be in, but I think ultimately you have to make the decision to find a new center- just mho. Ultimately, we moved to a new center and it was okay- but it didn't cut it with regards to the accomodations DS needed. It didn't become apparent until DS was 3 or so and we (or rather, his EI team) noted during an observation that DS was "doing his own thing" far too often and wasn't being actively engaged in play. In other words, he needed some better trained providers, which is why we later moved him to a special needs integrated preschool.

   

  The second is that he will be in a self contained class without any NT kids. I don't agree with that placement and I'm afraid he is going to pick up behaviors that he wouldn't otherwise. The school system says based on his evaluation, this is the best placement for him.

   

  I agree with auntie that it doesn't really matter at this point. My son was lucky to get the best of both worlds- an exclusively ASD classroom for half of the day and an integrated NT/ASD classroom the rest of the day. This was what our doctor recommended. The ASD classroom (his public school setting) was far more helpful for DS from a social standpoint. It's where the work was done in his day. The other classroom was for getting him used to social rules and norms, and practicing some of his skills. He didn't make any friends in that NT room, but he learned how to navigate amongst them. We actually eventually pulled DS into another ASD-only classroom at his private preschool because we could see that's where he was going to grow and learn, socially- not in his integrated room.

   

  We are not sure what to do. There is another center in our district that has an opening but DS is very attached to his teachers and the move would be really hard on him. I'm debating just keeping him in his current center and having the therapists go there to work with him, which they will do.

   

  We started out with therapists coming to his center, but this is when his therapists gently told me his center wasn't the best fit for him, despite us loving it.

   

  The other option is to change the IEP and flex schedule so DH, my mom or myself is home to get DS on MWF after county preschool and suppliment with a private therapist on T & TH in his regular daycare. This is really hard for me and I'm so nervous that I'm going to make the wrong decision.

   

  I would be remiss to make such a big change before trying other options. DS has made the biggest gains in his classroom settings- not at home or with his private therapists one:one. I can only speak for my DS, but his struggles were/are almost entirely social, and he needed to be constantly challenged by being set up in social interactions with other kids.

   

  Don't worry too much about making wrong decisions- you can always change the IEP if its not working, and if you have a good team, they should be on board with making sure he's in the best setting and should accommodate requests to alter the plan.

  Any feedback would be appreciated

  
  

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• KelleyBean member

  August 2013

  Thanks for the feedback. We toured a center tonight that we didn't even know was around the corner from our house. It came highly recommended on the neighborhood list serve. They had an open house so we were able to sit down with the director and ask a lot of questions about care, routine, expectations, etc. She let us know that in the 3s class there is another little boy on the spectrum and he has a therapist that comes to the center and works with him. They do some of the work in the class and some in a private room. We are going to keep the IEP with DS in the 5 day county program. He will be bused to the center where his private ABA and speech therapists will come work with him in the afternoons three days a week. DH and I will keep our current work schedule which is a flex that gives us Fridays off. 

  
  

  It's going to be long days for DS on M,T,W when he is in both the county program and the center but I don't want to eliminate his exposure to NT kids even if he doesn't know what he is supposed to do with them. Lately he has been asking to go to various play places to "play with the other kids" and while he doesn't play the way they do, he tries hard to interact with them and imitates what they do. We are encouraged by that and are hoping that as his speech gets less echolalic he will be able to communicate more easily and develop some potential friendships. 

  
  

  I do understand county budget constraints but the "just find another center" line from them was a joke. We had his IEP meeting two weeks ago. That gave us 5 weeks to find other arrangements and most places have wait lists a mile long. I'm not thrilled about him having to get on a bus to go from school to daycare but I'm going to have to let that go and realize this is what it takes to get my kiddo the help he needs. It's a bitter pill for sure. 

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